


Etheria Victory Day+1

by alexrakefire



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Closure, Dialogue Heavy, Dry Humor, Epilogue, F/F, Fantasy, Gen, Multi, Other, Post-Finale, some uwu moments, spot the jojo reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25881913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexrakefire/pseuds/alexrakefire
Summary: This is my imagining of the very first full day following the last moments of the series finale. Friends and Family are reunited, relationships are blooming, and there's a litany of one-liners to be had. How do our characters even begin to process the tremendous victory they've just experienced, and the colossal losses they've endured? How do the Princesses and the denizens of Etheria, new and old, react to their first day in this new world of limitless imagination, and all the new mysteries it could reveal? We may never know, but this is just one possibility...
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Kudos: 16





	Etheria Victory Day+1

Etheria Victory Day +1  
A Fanmade Epilogue

Part I: Morning

At dawn that first day, there was the chirp of birds and insects, a rustle of wind through newly reawakened grass and leaves, when Scorpia's scream ripped through camp. Perfuma shouted "Scorpia!" as a sweat-beaded pincer clutched the back of the towering princess' neck. She gasped for breath, pupils like the points of needles.  
"I felt him...them." Scorpia gulped in-between shallow breaths. "Like they...like he was controlling me again."  
"Scorpia." Perfuma hugged her friend, pulling her close. "It's okay. We're here. They're gone."  
Her stinger rattled. "I don't know about that, Perfuma."  
Perfuma drew a calming sigh, putting her hands on Scorpia's free grip. "You've been through a major trauma. It's...this will take time, Scorpia. Recovery will take time."  
"I hate feeling like this."  
"I know you do. I would too. But we'll get through it, okay?"  
"Okay."  
Bow, shoeless, stopped his sprint and knelt next to the two princesses, brow furrowed. "Everything okay? You woke up all of camp."  
“I wish I could say they were, Bow.” Scorpia sighed, the tension subsiding. “I had a nightmare. I could see Horde Prime controlling me. I could see all of the chipped people’s thoughts. It was so chaotic, like an entire city talking at once. Everyone was so scared.”  
Bow nodded along. Scorpia’s account sounded similar to what Catra told him and Glimmer about on Spaceship Darla. For a moment, he thought about the tens of thousands that lived in each individual Kingdom- Bright Moon, Mystacor- and what they were feeling. After all, it had only been a day. From a distance, Adora listened with bated breath, resting her head on Catra’s shoulder. Adora’s eyes shifted to the remnants of Horde Prime’s station, a verdant satellite floating above Etheria. Behind it, the infinite shimmer of stars faded gently into the light of the rising sun. Catra hugged Adora tighter, a warmth flowing through the fingers from the crook in her waist. She kissed the back of Adora’s head through a tuft of blond hair.  
“Did I kick you awake?” Adora asked.  
“What?” Catra chuckled.  
“You were sleeping at the foot of my bedroll. Like-” Adora’s cheeks flushed. “Like back in the Fright Zone. When Scorpia screamed, I jumped. Did I kick you by accident?”  
“Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have been able to tell.” Catra looked down, a carpet of dewy grass on the floor of the woods. “Too much adrenaline. When we came back here, back from the bluff? I was helping Frosta fix her tent while you and Glimmer collected food. She threw up on the side.”  
“Poor kid. She’s been through too much. Especially for her age.”  
Catra was quiet for a moment. “The ground is wet.”  
“You might need shoes.”  
Catra squinted. “Not a chance.”  
“It could be time.”  
She shook her head. “Come on, let’s see how the others are doing, Adora.”  
Everyone gathered around the remains of the campfire, exchanging in some small talk during breakfast. As exhausted as everyone had been come nightfall, it didn’t look like anyone had slept. Micah’s eyes were red. Glimmer had flicks of dirt and grime on her clothes. Frosta was shivering, before Hordak offered her a blanket. Entrapta arched an eyebrow, “I don’t think it’s cold enough-” when he raised his hand. The two sat on a log, Bow handing them hot drinks and bread. Mood around the campfire died down, as eyes darted back and forth. The sun was climbing, and the ambient sounds of nature were getting louder.  
“Fine.” Micah pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll say it. Hordak, what are you doing here?”  
“I’m going with you. To Bright Moon, I presume? That’s where you’re headed, correct?” Hordak’s flat green eyes opened.  
“So...we’re just gonna gloss over everything else you’ve done?” Micah laughed, crossing his arms. “The Fright Zone? The war? I mean, what’s going to happen to that land? All the people in the occupied area?”  
“That land belonged to Scorpia’s people.” Hordak turned his head towards the white-haired Princess. Color was returning to her face. “It is her domain, of course only if she will reclaim it, once I’m out of the picture. It may take some years to restore, but it can be done.”  
“Out of the picture?” Glimmer stood up, “You need to pay for what you’ve done! The war, the destruction, how many times did you try to kill us? Just because Entrapta-”  
“Glimmer-” Micah interrupted. “Not now. We have to sit down and decide-”  
“Getting trapped in debate is why we almost lost the Kingdom in the first place! He attacked Bright Moon, endangered our people! He needs to be...I don’t know, put on trial! Imprisoned! Banished!”  
Micah nodded. “He’s dangerous, and we all know that, Glimmer. But if he was going to run, why wouldn’t he have already done so? Why stay here with us?”  
“I will surrender myself to you all, no strings attached.” Hordak put his drink and the last bite of bread on a plate in front of him. “I shall comb through the data Entrapta has collected, and find a far corner of the universe to live the rest of my days.”  
“Oh.” Entrapta looked down. “Is there any chance you’d ever come back? Visit? Make amends with people you may or may not have tried to destroy at some point?”  
“I think leaving is the best way to achieve that, Entrapta. I’ve made the people of this place suffer enough.”  
Adora drew a deep breath. Catra could feel her heartbeat skip faster. “There’s so much to think about, Glimmer. Too much.” Adora shifted her gaze towards Hordak. “Micah is right. How do we know you won’t try to make another empire? Another Horde?”  
Hordak leaned back on his log. “Catra, Scorpia, Micah. When you were connected with the hivemind, did you see anything about the universe? This place we are now, what all the stars in the sky mean?”  
Adora scoffed, “I don’t see the point.”  
Micah shook his head, “I think I might know what he’s talking about. So many of those stars have planets, other worlds. Most of them don’t have what Etheria has. Magic, life. Civilization.”  
Catra pointed towards Hordak, “Even if you wanted to make another Horde on some faraway planet, it wouldn’t last. We’re going to bring magic back to the universe.” Catra put her hand on Adora’s, leaning in close. Blue eyes glistened back. “Together. There’s nothing we won’t be able to do.”  
“That is a beautiful vision, Catra.” Hordak smiled. “But it will be far easier said than done. Despondos was...sterile. Simple. Just us, nothing else. Where we are now, though? That’s one part of the hivemind I remember clearly. It haunts me too. The Universe is so big. It’s practically infinite.”  
“What do you mean?” Frosta asked.  
“It’s hard to describe. All the grains of sand on all the beaches on Etheria would barely amount to a fraction of a fraction of a percentage point of all the worlds there are. In truth, no one has ever been able to truly see or experience how vast it is. Not me, not the First Ones, not Prime.”  
“He’s right.” Scorpia sighed. “I remember that too. Prime was afraid of the emptiness. What’s behind and between the stars.”  
Hordak smirked. “He’d never admit it, but you’re right, Scorpia.” Hordak scratched his cheek. “As vast as Prime’s reach was; to the universe, he was nothing. An ant to a soaring Osprey. He and the First Ones had quite a bit in common.” Hordak looked up to the sky, a ray of heat fell on his gaunt face. “When one realizes the scope of the vastness, the emptiness, they try to make sense of it. Everyone goes through it at some point. Prime’s reaction was to sanitize everything.”  
“What do you mean?” Scorpia asked.  
“It’s hard to be surprised by anything, when you cleanse existence of everything. That was Prime’s twisted logic. The First Ones’ collective reaction was to gather as much power as possible, to become so mighty that nothing could shock their souls to that degree again.” Hordak leaned forward. “All of you- your people will now be faced with that reality. The question of how to live with knowledge of the vastness. Just being connected to the hivemind...there’s no way to suppress that knowledge. That data is with you now, for good.” Hordak looked over to Adora and Catra, then shifted his gaze to Scorpia. “Without a good anchor, the reaction can be quite negative.”  
“Fine.” Glimmer pursed her lips. “You’ll stay with us in Bright Moon until we decide what to do.”  
“Thank you, Queen Glimmer. I should say, it’s not the first time your people will have been confronted with the reality of what comes beyond the void. Shadow Weaver’s reaction was...visceral, to say the very least. She thought she could make sense of it with dark magic. Never worked.”  
Micah looked away, steadying himself. Glimmer crossed her arms. “Dad?”  
He looked back up, “Yes?”  
“Did you and mom ever have that kind of moment?”  
“Yes, but not in the same way, Glimmer. You have to remember that before you all, it had been thousands of years since anyone had seen the stars. We had fragments, archives of things the First Ones left behind. There should be a cache of data back in Bright Moon.”  
Bow nodded. “But if you’d never seen the evidence, how could you know?”  
“When Glimmer was born,” Micah finally looked up. “Angella and I were young, not much older than you, Catra, and Adora. I was so scared. I thought of all the generations before me, all that I saw in my ancestors, in Glimmer.” Micah smiled, looking to his daughter. Her eyes were watering. “Angella held my hand while she cradled you. She was scared too, Glimmer. And I knew that as long as we had each other, our love, we could survive anything.”  
Bow and Glimmer held each other. Hordak looked to Entrapta, who gave a reassuring nod. Everyone in the circle hung on Micah’s words. Adora saw what made the denizens of Bright Moon miss their king.  
“As long as you have your friends, the people you love, no matter what the world, the universe throws at you, you’ll make it.” Micah was quiet for a moment. “That was- that was one of the first lessons my father, my parents taught me.” Micah’s voice broke. “I’m so sorry, Glimmer. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to teach it to you.”  
“Dad!” Glimmer ran across the circle to hug her father. Bow’s eyes glowed in full reverie. Adora wiped her tears with the cuff of her shirtsleeve.  
Even Catra sniffled with a cocksure grin “That’s some dad power huh, Adora?”  
“I needed that.” Adora blew her nose. “Gosh, I wish we had a better upbringing.”  
“Hah! Come on, Adora, we’ll definitely-” Catra looked to her right, Adora’s face tomato red. The hair on Catra’s tail stood up, her face flushing. “-we’ll uh definitely get on the road soon. Right, Glimmer? Micah?”  
Glimmer turned around, nodding, a smile from ear to ear. Micah chuckled, waving to everyone else. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Part II: Noon

“Brothers!” Horde Prime raised his hands, shouting to the shuffling masses at the shore of Salineas. “We are free! Emancipate yourselves from the mental slavery of the hivemind, of Horde Prime’s twisted vision! We’ve nothing to lose but our chains!”  
“There’s like eight clones here, and like, a billion non-clones. Ugh.” Mermista shook her head. “So we’re just okay with this? Really?”  
Sea Hawk stroked his moustache. “That’s the way it is for now! How would I write a shanty about Wrong Hordak…”  
“‘Hordak’ doesn’t rhyme with a whole lot, babe. You’ll have to be extra creative.”  
Sea Hawk’s eyes swelled to the width of dinner rolls. His nose fluttered. “Did you just call me ‘Babe?’”  
“Ugh!” Mermista put her head in her hands. “Yes. Is it okay if I call you babe?”  
“Of course! A fitting moniker, my love-”  
“Watch it, buddy.” Mermista laughed. “Okay, only if I can call you Hawkeye.”  
“Hawkeye?!” Sea Hawk shrieked. “That...that vulgar, crude character from your MerMysteries? The one who swore every other word? The horror! How could I be associated with a character so uncivilized, I am a Sailor!”  
Mermista looked to the sea gate and the adjacent docks, people flooding in and out, and the unmistakable glow of a shapeshifter broke her line of sight. “Double Trouble!” She shouted, grabbing Sea Hawk’s hand, and pulled him towards the boats.  
“Oh. Mermista! Seaman! How are you two?” Double Trouble put their hands on their hips. “Last I saw you, this sour jellyfish was trying to drown us.”  
“Sour jellyfish-”  
“Honey, you were a funeral in the rain even when Prime chipped you.” Double Trouble smirked. “Besides, I took down some of those clones-” DT morphed into a nondescript Prime Clone. “-my finest role yet.” Mermista’s eye twitched. DT cleared their throat. “So, how is everyone?” DT morphed back.  
Mermista rolled her eyes. “Heck of a segue. Why would you even care? You only care about your ‘roles’ or whatever.”  
“A lot of people didn’t make it, Mermista.” Sea Hawk put his hand on her shoulder. “That’s...part of the reason why we came, Double Trouble. Get a better understanding of what we’ve lost before we head back to Bright Moon. The other princesses are okay, but we know that there’s going to be losses. Entire settlements haven’t checked in.”  
Mermista nodded, looking at the ground. “I- I could feel myself slipping away. How many thousands of times does that repeat on Etheria? Who even knows how many people Prime chipped? War might be over, but we have a long recovery ahead. Princess Council is gonna convene in Bright Moon tomorrow.”  
DT closed their eyes, letting out a tense breath. “Good. I cringe at the thought of Scorpia being a tool of some techno-organic weirdo.”  
Sea Hawk squinted. “For your sake, The Princesses are in good spirits. They won the battle, and the war, and now our adventurous contingent is rife with the pulse of love!”  
“Ooh!” DT clapped their hands. “Details, details!”  
Sea Hawk counted on his fingers, “So, we’ve got Glim-Bow to literally no one’s surprise, Entrap-Dak is strong like a western wind, Scorp-Fuma is blossoming, and Catra-Dora-”  
DT gasped, “No way! Oh. My. Gosh.” They laughed, “Seaman, I’m telling you I smelled the tension from the day I met that crazy kitten. It was almost painful, how much they cared about each other.” DT shook their head, “Horde really messed up their heads. Those two are gonna need some counselling, but I’m happy for them! I shipped it from the start.”  
“Hah!” Sea Hawk bellowed. “They’re in good hands. Perfuma is an absolute sage at the inter-relational arts. With her navigating with them through their pent-up trauma and myriad complexes, as long as their hearts are open, they’ll do well.”  
Mermista rolled her eyes again. “Babe, we worked with both of them. You really think they’ll work out?” She crossed her arms. “I want them to be happy, but...we’ve, they’ve been through so much.”  
“Well-” Sea Hawk shrugged, smiling. “It’s only been a day. It won’t be easy and it’ll take time, but-” Sea Hawk held her hand. “Logic doesn’t work the same way. It’s love!”  
“Well-” Mermista blushed. “Love can change a lot of things.”  
“Come on, sour jellyfish.” DT scoffed. “Love changes everything. Mermista, before you head back to your little princess consortium, you should know that not everything’s going to work the same way it did before around here.”  
“What do you mean? Is that a threat-”  
“No threat.” DT blinked. “But, come on. It’s better if I show you.”  
Double Trouble led the two into the marketplace. Some stalls stood if nothing had happened, some were utterly stripped bare. In any free space, citizens and residents gathered, delving deep into their experiences with Prime, the hivemind, and the state of Etheria. DT pointed to an empty cafe table, where a clone and several Salineas citizens conversed. “Keep your ears open. Coffee? Tea? Something stronger?”  
“I wanna turn up, not gonna lie.” Mermista flagged a waiter. “Ice water, cold as you can make it.”  
Sea Hawk focused on the conversation to his side, with the free clone. “They’re talking about the ‘consensus?’ Any idea what that means, Mermista?”  
Mermista laughed, “It’s complete bonk, Sea Hawk. Prime presented choices to the hivemind but it was obvious what outcome he preferred.” She folded her hands. “Prime would present places to move people to, where to pen in anyone who wasn’t chipped. Not much of a consensus. He imposed choice.”  
“You’re right, Mermista. Scuttlebutt around here is there’s a petition already circulating the kingdom to establish an elected council. A consensus council.” DT smirked. “Every adult would be able to have a say.”  
Mermista shrugged, “I don’t see the issue with that.”  
“You wouldn’t be in charge anymore, Mermista. Imagine the Princess Alliance, making every decision about every life in your kingdom.” DT checked their nails. “Your people have been through a major crisis, and need a steady hand. Is this really the time to pull the rug under from what you know works?”  
Sea Hawk raised his hand, “I think-”  
“Can it, babe.” Mermista sighed. “As much as I hate to say it, DT is right. I’m sick of debating and arguing, but the Alliance worked. It’s what we have.” She brushed her braid behind her shoulder. “The rest of the Princesses should know. It’s a different reality now.”  
“I’m right there with you, no matter what.”  
Mermista smiled. “Sure thing, Hawkeye.”  
DT threw their hands up. “I am missing too much context. Y’all have a library where I can read these things? They sound so juicy?”  
“Not happening.” Mermista wagged a finger. “Buy your own collection.”  
“Fine. Oh?” DT was jostled by a smiling clone waving at the table. The waiter nodded at them as they put the drinks on the table.  
“Brothers!” The clone bowed. “Have you heard of the petition we’ll present to the princess? A new code for a new world, where we all can have a say without the creepy brain prodding and mind control. And a hot lunch provided every Tuesday!”  
“‘Siblings’ works just fine too, chief.” DT said. “And, hate to say it, but the princess is like, right there.”  
The clone turned to Mermista, who gave a single wave. Sea Hawk shook his head, putting a finger to his lips. “My apologies, Siblings! Your highness! Would you be willing to have an audience over our proposal?”  
“Fine, granted.” Mermista shook her head. “It might be a while, though. I get your whole ‘cool new world’ thing you’re doing here, but we still have the structure of the Princess Rebellion as the main order of things. Stability before reform, right DT?”  
The shapeshifter shrugged, “I only make suggestions, Mermista. I’m just an actor.”  
“I can see the need for stability.” Sea Hawk thought out loud. “At the same time, reform is needed. Both sides have valid points, and both sides have drawbacks...both sides...I feel unclean. Radical reform has just as much a place as radical stability.”  
The clone smiled, “You’ll likely be one of just a handful in the middle, sibling. You either pick a side, or neither. Be well!” The clone walked away.  
“Well” DT sipped their drink “Wrong Hordak’s outlook is certainly...infectious.”  
Mermista facepalmed. “This is so much. Do I ever get a break?” Sea Hawk raised his hand before Mermista swatted it down, “I love you, but if you say ‘but it will be an adventure!’ again I’m going to lose it.” She sank down in the cafe chair. “I seriously had enough trouble just telling boats not to overfish, and getting farmers not to wash all their waste into the streams. You’re telling me...people want to have whole debates on ‘oh but maybe the dirty farm sludge doesn’t actually pollute the water’ or ‘the fish deserve to be harvested to extinction.’” Mermista ordered another ice water. “How are we going to get anything done?”  
DT shrugged, smirking. “Make it up as you go along. Always worked for me. Do you have any idea how long I was playing Peekablue before you all showed up?”  
Mermista pulled her communicator from her satchel. “Before I forget, DT, anything you can tell us about the Horde? Anyone you may have encountered? Bow wanted me to update him. The Alliance will have to prepare for stragglers.”  
“Smart! Look out for the remnants who might cause trouble, I like it!” Double Trouble thought to themselves. “I can definitely confirm I saw three Horde soldiers; Kyle, Rogelio, and Lonnie. And a baby?”  
“A baby?”  
“Yeah, a baby. Soft little pointy-eared thing. They were headed for the Crimson Wastes. They most definitely got captured, though. Once Hordak was out of the picture, a lot of folks just left the Fright Zone. Plenty stayed back though, unsure what to do. Prime probably chipped them first. I think it highly unlikely they’re all living on top of each other still.”  
“Sounds like a great opportunity for a-” Sea Hawk blushed, scratching the back of his head. “a- well coordinated and thought-out search and repatriation plan! Let me go find our drinks…”  
Mermista tapped away at her communicator, when Double Trouble again asked for a copy of MerMysteries.  
“Tell you what.” Mermista looked up from the screen. “I’ll give you the first three in the series, if you answer one question.”  
They blinked. “Deal.”  
Mermista set the communicator down. “When you were playing Peekablue, you mentioned farsight. Do you actually have that ability or were you just messing with us?”  
DT nodded. “It comes and goes. Sometimes I see things I don’t know how to describe. Like, back when we were in that empty dimension? I could see into, well, here.”  
“So you got to see the stars before anyone else? That must have been nice.”  
“True, it is a wonderful talent, of my many talents. There are good and bad days, like anything else.” DT turned to Sea Hawk’s direction, who was arguing with a waiter. “Every now and then I see someone die. Or someone that should be dead. Like Micah.”  
Mermista arched an eyebrow. “Ugh, that’s creepy.”

Part III: Night

Micah and Glimmer paced about the meeting hall, as a motley group of archivists pared through all the laws that had ever governed Bright Moon. Trey, the lead, handed Bow a stack of papers and books.  
“Alright-” she said, pointing to different points on the pile. “This bit is for small claims litigation, that part was the public school curriculum 500 years ago, and this is an anatomy and physiology textbook.”  
“Trey-” Bow strained. “-can I please put this down?”  
“Hm? Oh yeah, go ahead. Anywhere there’s space on the round table.”  
“There’s no…” Bow closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. “There’s no space on the table left, Trey.” He smiled, teeth clenched. “I’m putting these down on the floor.”  
“Yeah, sure, sure. I think we have enough documents anyway.”  
Frosta groaned. “Okay, the ice princess is lost. Why are we digging through all these papers, and why do we have to be here?”  
“Yeah, it’s almost naptime.” Catra yawned. “Bedtime. Whatever.”  
“Ah!” Trey fixed her glasses. “We need you as witnesses. See, there’s a problem. Micah was King of Bright Moon, then Angella Queen, and now Glimmer. But Micah is alive! So, we need to figure out who the ruler of Bright Moon actually is!”  
Micah shook his head. “Glimmer, obviously. Now doesn’t seem like the best time to shake up leadership.”  
“Is this about projecting strength?” Adora asked. “I had no idea who you were when I first came here, but just walking around it’s clear people missed you.”  
“You’re right Adora, but I’ve been gone almost 20 years.” Micah crossed his arms. “One of the hardest parts of leadership is knowing when to pass the torch. I understand that people missed me, they...they miss Angella, but that’s the past. Glimmer is Queen now.”  
Scorpia raised her claw, “Okay, but- so I’m just saying objectively, you seem like a good leader. Gosh, you’re really pulling all this out of thin air?”  
Micah frowned, “Trey, please have something for me when I get back. I’m going to check on Hordak. Anyone want to come with?”  
Glimmer and Adora jumped at the opportunity. Catra waved them off, quickly falling asleep in her chair. “Bow?” Glimmer asked.  
“You go ahead. This…” His eyes grew wide. “This is a very detailed textbook. I recognized it, there’s a newer copy in my Dads’ library, but this has to be the original medical journal.” Bow turned the dusty book sideways, a panel of pages folding out from the spine. “Huh. So that’s how that works.”  
Micah chuckled, shaking his head as he lead Adora and Glimmer down the hallway towards the “prison” where Adora and Double Trouble had once stayed. The castle was in disrepair, some of the lighting missing, dust and dirt accumulated, though thankfully fewer scars of battle than expected. The caretakers were hard at work, some waving and some running up to embrace their returned Queen Glimmer, and their long lost King Micah. Micah and Glimmer were mostly quiet, to Adora’s surprise. He yawned, clearing his throat. “I don’t think I realized how tired I was.”  
“You’ll be okay, Dad.” Glimmer smiled. Micah smiled back.  
“Yeah, here’s hoping. Perfuma is gonna have her work cut out for her.”  
“If you can squeeze in time she’s not helping Catra or doing group yoga!” Adora laughed. “And me too, I guess.”  
Micah stopped for a moment, deep in thought. “I have so many questions, but I think I’ll let those come up organically. She’s a complicated character Adora, but I can see why you care about her.”  
Adora nodded. “It hasn’t been easy, but she’s worth it. There’s so much to peel back, what we went through as kids, with the Horde, with...Shadow Weaver.” Adora’s voice broke.  
Micah turned. A ribbon of tears spilled down Adora’s cheeks. “She was so mean. She manipulated me, she hurt Catra. And then she-” Adora remembered Castaspella’s call-out when they found the failsafe. “Micah.” She held his hand. “In the Heart of Etheria, Shadow Weaver saved me and Catra, so we could escape a monster left by the First Ones. She sacrificed herself for us.”  
Micah closed his eyes, nodding in acknowledgement. “I’m sorry, Adora.”  
“You shouldn’t be! Why do I feel bad about her? She was mean, and manipulative, and evil! Castaspella told us about what she did with you.” Adora wiped her eyes. “So much of the pain, all the ways she manipulated people I love. And she’s gone! She never has to answer for anything, say ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I did something wrong’ again. How is that justice, Micah?”  
Micah sighed. “It, it isn’t justice, Adora. I feel the same way about her. She used me as a child to try and get power for herself. She taught me dark magic.” Adora leaned on her knees, Micah kneeling down with her. “Adora, I’m not going to make judgments, but understand this.” He put his hands on her shoulders, Adora picking her head up and the two looking right into each other’s eyes. “I know exactly how you feel. You’re not alone.”  
Glimmer agreed. “I know the feeling too. We’ll get through this, Adora. Together.”  
“Thank you.” Adora stood back up. “Come on, let’s check on Hordak.”  
Hordak was in bed, Entrapta typing furiously at her screens, going through the galaxy of data gleaned from Prime’s station. “Magic barrier was making the room too stuffy.” Entrapta said. “Hordak is napping.”  
Adora sneered, turning to Glimmer. She whispered under her breath, “You know...for most of my life I’ve known this guy as like a powerful, genius wannabe emperor. This is like, almost unsettling.”  
“Almost?”  
“Yeah, it’s pretty funny too.”  
“I can hear everything you’re saying.” Hordak mumbled from his bed. “Glimmer, Micah, can you see I’m not a threat?”  
He shook his head, “Don’t blame me for being careful. Say, if you don’t mind me asking, how come well, I was pretty sure you had dark hair and red eyes before.”  
“Prime was obsessed with uniformity, oneness.” Hordak sat up. “Every clone should ‘look the same.’ The way you remember me, that was more or less the product of time, my ‘corruptions’ compounding over the years.”  
“That’s not what I would say about you.” Entrapta turned away from her screens. “Your imperfections, they make you, you.”  
Hordak blinked. “If I could blush. Thank you, Entrapta.”  
Adora shrugged, “Wait, couldn’t Wrong Hordak blush?”  
“Pretty sure, yeah.” Entrapta said.  
“Hold up.” Hordak leaned back against the wall. “Wrong Hordak?”  
Glimmer pursed her lips, “Adora!”  
Micah sat on the bed next to Hordak. “It’s probably better you don’t know for now. There’s a lot to catch up on.”  
“True.” Glimmer said, scratching her chin, “Getting a full sense of closure isn’t always possible. And then you can sometimes have external pressure saying ‘no, no you need to cut this exposition and context, and we’re accelerating the timeline.’”  
“Glimmer. What are you talking about?” Hordak asked.  
“Oh. Nothing. Train of thought. Say, Entrapta-” She walked over to the purple-haired princess. “I don’t know if I trust Hordak-”  
“Sitting right here.”  
“-but I do trust you. Why don’t you and Hordak head back to your old castle? Take as much time as you need to go through the data, and you won’t have half of Bright Moon breathing down your necks. But if anything happens, you tell us right away.”  
Entrapta nodded. “I, it’s tempting. But only if Hordak-”  
“I’d like that, Entrapta. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m in no rush.”  
Micah patted Hordak on the back. “Good. This is good. I think. Now, tell me about this space station, Entrapta. I’d imagine there’s a ton of tech to go through?”  
“You know it! It could take years to crunch all the numbers, to unlock all the mysteries it contains.”  
“Wonderful. Would it be fair to say that that thing floating above Etheria is practically verdant with information?”  
Entrapta frowned, shaking her head. Glimmer and Adora exchanged a groan. “Did he just-” Hordak put his head in his hands. “Change of plan, Entrapta. Let’s go tomorrow.”  
Entrapta snorted, tapping at her screens. “Don’t act like I don’t know when you’re joking.” Hordak laughed, if but for a fraction of a second.  
“We’ll leave you all to it, then.” Micah stood up.  
Glimmer added, “We’ll make sure you all have food and clean clothes in the morning.”  
The three made their way back to the conference room, just as dinner platters arrived from the castle kitchen, complete with three kinds of juice, and a pile of pastries. “Please tell me you have something concrete, Trey.” Micah asked.  
Trey shook her head. “Sorry, Micah. We went back a thousand years, and there’s rules that argue for both. We have five laws with legal standing saying that Glimmer is Queen for good now, and we have four that say your return grants you a term of regency. No more than ten years, but no fewer than three.”  
“So why does it matter, if Glimmer is going to be Queen eventually, regardless of what our laws say?”  
“I’m not a political person, Micah.” Trey sighed. “But it could show stability. Like Adora said, Give a stable foundation the kingdom can build on. Prepare us for the next crisis.”  
Micah sat at the table, pushing a stack of papers to the side. “What do you think, Glimmer?”  
Glimmer’s eyes twinkled. The room was silent aside from the ambient sound of wind, the faraway trickle of water. Through the window, dusk morphed into a star-saturated night. “I...I don’t think I was ready to be Queen, dad.”  
“Glimmer-”  
“I made some really awful decisions. Shadow Weaver convinced me to do things...I was scared, and I didn’t know what to do. People got hurt because of me.”  
Bow sat next to her. “Glimmer, no amount of work could have prepared us for what happened, what we’ve been through. But we made it anyway. You’re a good Queen.”  
Micah smiled at Bow. “Very wise. That’s right, Glimmer. Being a good leader isn’t something that’s taught. It has to be experienced. Your boyfriend is right.”  
Glimmer nodded. “Yeah, it’s just-” Glimmer’s face turned pale. “Did you just say ‘boyfriend?’”  
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I-” Micah put his hands up, “You know what, that’s on me, I shouldn’t have assumed. Proud dad moment, I’m sorry.”  
“Dad-”  
The others were grinning a mile wide. Bow brushed his shoulder as if there was dirt on it.  
“Glimmer, why wouldn’t I be proud? He’s sharp, he’s an absolute tech wiz, he’s got combat experience, and he can give a damn good speech impromptu-”  
“Bow!” Catra yelled across the table. “I could see your ego from space!”  
“Hah!” Bow bellowed. “How’s the view? Are you still using Entrapta’s cute helmet?”  
Catra turned bright red, shooting out of her chair. “Ugh! You’re such a- nevermind.” She sat back down. “I am not going to let you take my joy of eating non-bar shaped food away. Adora? Can you pass the dessert plate, please?”  
Micah handed the plate to Adora. “You know Catra, you usually eat dessert last.”  
“This is a free kingdom, sir!”  
Glimmer chuckled, “I decree that eating dessert first, or for the whole meal, is a valid and cool thing to do.” She turned to Trey. “Hey, I know you’re all just doing your jobs. Wanna eat with us?”  
Trey shook her head, smiling. “No, we ate earlier. But you all enjoy. The other archivists and I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.” She waved to her colleagues, before turning to Glimmer and giving her a slight bow. “Thank you.”  
An ample helping of revelry was had over dinner, with stories of space, magic artifacts, sea shanties, nutrient bar capers, and Micah’s tales of all his friends who got tattoos in First Ones script, which Adora found translated into nonsense words and phrases like “butter fish, timethunder,” and “dank.” Scorpia laid out her vision for a grand Inaugural Ball when the Fright Zone was transformed back to its native glory. As they cleaned up, Perfuma invited everyone to a sunrise meditation and yoga session on the great balcony, Catra’s idea. Adora hesitated, but agreed to it quickly. “It’s a date.”  
Everyone dispersed for bed, heading to their different chambers. Bow and Glimmer were hand in hand, Adora and Catra as well. “Looks like we’ve got a big day tomorrow.” Glimmer said, showing Adora to her old room. “See you in the morning.”  
“Goodnight.”  
“Goodnight!”  
Bow and Glimmer continued on. As they rounded the corner, Adora gave a gentle tug on Catra’s hand. She opened her old door.  
“Adora, It’s been a long day. If you need space-”  
“Catra.” Adora leaned into her old friend, pulling her close. The tips of their noses were touching. Her voice was little more than a whisper. “Please come with me.”  
“Okay.”  
Across the otherwise dark room, light from the stars trickled in. Catra led Adora to the balcony. As they stepped outside, the full splendor of the sky was theirs to behold. Streaks of meteors, the dusty bulge of the galaxy center the backdrop to infinite points of light. It was calm. Peaceful.  
Catra turned. “Adora.”  
“Catra.”  
“I-” A part of her wanted to say something powerful like Micah, or poetic like Bow, but she couldn’t find the words. She didn’t need to. She ran her fingers through Adora’s hair, undoing her hair tie. Blonde locks fell in a cascade. Catra wrapped her arms around Adora’s neck, like they were slow dancing. “Adora. You’re beautiful.”  
“You’re- you’re-” Adora put her hands around Catra’s waist. Their lips met. They kissed once, twice, a third time. “I love you, Catra.”  
“I love you too.”  
They went back inside, Catra assuming her usual spot at the foot of the bed. Adora let out a deep breath as she jumped on. “I missed this awful bed.” She looked up, Catra curled at her feet. “Catra, come-”  
Catra pulled herself up, settling the top of her head against Adora’s chin. A surge of warmth filled her all the way up and down her back. Adora pulled her closer, draping an arm across Catra’s waist. It was a perfect cuddle. “This is great. Even though-” Her voice trailed off.  
“Even though what, Catra?”  
“Oh, you know. We have a succession crisis here in Bright Moon, Salineas wants to change their whole government, we have a bunch of Prime clones all over the planet. Magic in the Universe. Double Trouble is...somewhere.” Catra yawned “And that’s just the start. I want to be with you, Adora, but it’s never gonna be easy, is it? Are we, are you and I ever going to have a day where we can just live our lives? Family? A Farm? Maybe a peach orchard?”  
Adora kissed the back of Catra’s head. “Not now, for sure. But our day will come. And as long as we’re together, I don’t mind where the adventure takes us.”  
Catra purred, Adora feeling the vibration in her chest. “Adora?”  
“Yes?”  
“Is it just me, or is it like, really musky in here?”  
“No, you’re right. I didn’t want to mention it. Let me light a candle.” Adora sat up and leaned over to her end table, her stash of candles and matches in the top drawer. Catra sat up too. “You never know, Catra.” Adora struck the match. “It’ll be a trip, but it’s a classic Best Friends Squad Adventure. And it’s going to be fun.” She lit the candle. The room filled with the smell of lavender and ginger.  
“You freaking dummy.” Catra chuckled. “Don’t you recognize by now that you have a pretty funny sense of fun?”  
Adora smiled, holding the burning match up to her mouth, and blew out the flame.

THE END


End file.
